Vice-Regal Saint: Harper: "The Red Ensign of 1917 will fly over Vimy"
Veterans Affairs cited a governmental protocol that allows no other flag than the Maple Leaf to fly on federal property. The land on which the Vimy Memorial was built was donated to Canada by France. "We know where the veterans are coming from . . . but we have to follow protocol," said Janice Summerby, a spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs.
Well now, apparently not. You've got to love that Harper guy; bureaucratic protocol will just have to fly a kite on this one:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has requested the Red Ensign flag fly at Vimy Ridge ceremonies next month, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Mr. Harper told his cabinet ministers yesterday that he wanted both the Red Ensign and the Maple Leaf hoisted in Vimy, France, at the 90th anniversary of the First World War battle, sources close to the Prime Minister said.
"He said, 'The Red Ensign of 1917 will fly over Vimy,' " one source told The Globe.
The decision was hailed as a victory by veterans' groups and advocates, who have been lobbying Ottawa to have the historical ensign displayed over the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Related: With what flag should we honour Vimy Ridge? Veterans groups want to mark anniversary with ensign under which soldiers fought.
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11 comments:
Protocol that upholds tradition is laudable. Protocol that is mercilessly antagonistic to it, is mean, inane and contemptuous.
Not a poet am I, but poetic I do feel:
http://onedominion.blogspot.com/2007/03/monarchist-harper-red-ensign-of-1917.html
Harper gets better and better!
Here's to a solid Tory majority!
Since the Red Ensign wasn't made an "official" flag until after the war in the 1920's, wouldn't a Union Jack be more appropriate?
Vimy was a British-Canadian achievement, so you need something distinctively British-Canadian. That flag is the tattered Red Ensign (shown above), such as the one in the Imperial War Museum.
However, the unofficial Red Ensign in 1917 featured nine provincial shields, rather than the four in the Imperial War Museum flag, which is the 1867 unofficial version. And there are two versions of the 1917 ensign. One is just a shield composed of nine provincial shields, and the other has this shield surrounded by a garland of maple leaves, surmounted by a crown. But most people are familiar with the 1922 Red Ensign. Which version would fly?
What are the chances of the Red Ensign returning as Canada's official flag - once Quebec secedes?
Quebec will never secede. A clear question on outright secession is supported by only 25-30% of the population. They can get bump this up to 40-50% on "sovereignty association", but only if Quebeckers can keep their Canadian passport and currency. Only "asymmetrical federalism" is supported by a plurality of the population, and this is where we've been going for years anyways.
Can't you kick them out? They're dragging the whole place down.
Having blogspot banned by the fascists here who rule China, it's great to illegally arrive at this site to see such great news.
By the way, I have a favour to ask of anyone who may in a position to offer technical assistance.
I've been working on a site devoted to the British ensign in all its variations worldwide, paying especial attention on the Canadian versions.
I put in quite a bit of effort saving images on the bar of my site at http://imperialflags.blogspot.com/
but now while I can add more, they cannot be moved so are forced to
remain at the top of the bar.
In other words it's as if I can add an image of the Bermuda flag but can't move it down to the 'British Dependents' heading as The Monarchist has done.
This is a problem no matter what computer I use so deleting cookies or the cache of temporary files is not a solution. I also have this
problem using Firefox and Internet Explorer.
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